Solar-powered irrigation is gaining popularity among farmers because of uninterrupted water supply and cost advantage over diesel-based pumps, said industry operators.
Since 2012, 358 solar-based irrigation pumps have been installed to water crop on over 23,000 bighas of land, according to Infrastructure Development Company Ltd.
Idcol, a state-run financial organisation, provides grants to set up irrigation schemes run by renewable sources with a view to reducing dependency on diesel.
The rate of installation of solar powered irrigation system shot up in the last two years, said SM Monirul Islam, deputy chief executive of Idcol.
“Solar irrigation pumps ensure consistent supply of water at costs lower than diesel-based pumps — this is one of the main reasons behind the spike in installation.”
Bangladesh requires 32 lakh tonnes of diesel a year, with 40 percent of it going towards the running of 14.32 lakh irrigation pumps.
Also, 3.20 lakh pumps are run by electricity to irrigate crops on a total of 54.48 lakh hectares in the dry season, according to Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation data.
Some 1,700-1,800 megawatts of electricity are consumed for irrigating rice fields during the boro season. “Expansion of solar irrigation will cut that dependency,” Islam said.
Idcol’s data showed that installation of solar-powered pumps surged to 175 units in 2015 from only 71 a year earlier. As of August, 94 solar irrigation pumps have been installed.
Most of the solar pumps have been installed in the north and eastern regions.
The average capacity of a solar irrigation pump is 10.2 kW and it can irrigate 65 bighas of land, according to the Idcol official.
“The potential of solar irrigation system is huge,” he said, adding that the state-run financial organisation has so far approved 471 solar irrigation pumps.
Initially, it was challenging to win the hearts of farmers, said Sufi Iqbal Ahmed, managing director of Solargao Ltd, one of the firms that install solar-based pumps to supply water to farmers’ fields on a rental basis.
Cost-saving is one of the main factors behind the farmers’ interests in solar irrigation pumps.
Solargao charges Tk 5,000 and Tk 6,000 for irrigating a bigha paddy land during the boro season. To water the same acreage with diesel-based pumps, the farmers have to spend Tk 7,000-7,500.
“Farmers also remain anxious about whether they can irrigate the fields timely.”
During the dry season, farmers, especially in the north, cannot irrigate crop fields properly as they do not get water in their shallow tube wells for lowering of the water table in the aquifer.
But for solar irrigation system, the water is lifted by installing pumps 20 metres down the surface, Ahmed said.
“So, we do not face any problem in getting water during the dry season. Farmers now crowd our field offices to get water from solar irrigation pumps.”
There is huge demand in the Dinajpur region, where the water level depletes in the dry season.
Solargao has so far installed 100 solar-powered irrigation pumps and aims to take the number to 200 units by the end of 2016.
However, scarcity of land is a concern in a country of 1.44 lakh square kilometres with 16 crore people.
The installation of a 15kW solar pump requires one bigha of land. “We are installing the solar panels in such a way that we can grow other crops on the land used for the solar irrigation pump.” The sustainability of solar irrigation pumps without the state support is another concern.
Currently, Idcol provides 50 percent grants for solar-based irrigation schemes. Ahmed said it would be tough for a firm to survive if it depends on irrigation only.
Farmers do not need irrigation throughout a year, so if anyone sets up solar panels for irrigation purposes only, it will be very tough to survive. “One has to find multiple use of the energy system throughout the year to make such a scheme viable. We are working on that,” he added.
source: TheDailyStar
